Take a haunted Soo history tour and real ghosts (?) may be your companions

Kim Schneider "Woodsmoke" Jim, telling scary but historically-based stories near the Soo Locks Ghosts make an appearance at hundreds of haunted houses around the state this month. But they're usually not as unexpected as the one "Woodsmoke Jim" Couling swears joined his twilight walking tours of haunted Sault Ste. Marie - in 1920s garb.

During his Aug. 28 tour this year, Couling says a man dressed from the '20s started hanging with the crowd listening to his history-based ghost stories near the Soo Locks. The guy in vintage garb even started a conversation with a man attending the tour with his wife, asking, "Do you like gatherings?" When the man answered yes, the stranger posed the question again, "Do you like gatherings?" Couling said.

"When this strangely dressed man circled around him and asked the same question for the third time, it cause the man to stare at him, and then the ghost disappeared. It caused quite a stir and shook up the man and his wife for the entire evening."

Nothing scarier than history?You may not walk beside a ghost, hear invisible children laughing (as Couling says happened on another recent tour) or smell cigar smoke when no one is smoking (another recent happening). But based on my personal (ghost-free) experience on this tour, spooky stories based on actual historical happenings are scarier than the most ghoulish costume. Book it: The tours are offered this Friday and Saturday night at 9 p.m.; the last of the season runs Oct. 24 at 8 p.m. Call or email (906-495-7122; or jimcouling@yahoo.com) for a given's weekend's schedule.

For a complete list of the state's haunted and otherwise spooky fun, check out this comprehensive guide at Absolute Michigan.